Man hired for Canfield city manager files lawsuit

Staff report

Canfield

The man hired briefly in 2009 as Canfield’s city manager has sued the city for rescinding his appointment.

Canfield City Council appointed Charles V. Bowman, of Kent, city manager in July 2009 but rescinded the appointment Sept. 2, less than a week before he was to begin working, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by Bowman’s lawyer Michael Lucas in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Both Lucas and Atty. Mark Fortunato, who represents the city, declined to comment on the case.

Bowman, who was employed as city manager for Greenfield in southwest Ohio during his interviews with Canfield, seeks $75,000 plus damages in the four-count complaint.

The counts are breach of contract; intentional infliction of severe emotional distress; promissory estoppel, which means a contract must be upheld even if one party changes his or her position; and equitable estoppel, which protects one party from being harmed by another party’s voluntary conduct.

Bowman resigned in Greenfield on July 7, 2009, a day after council approved his appointment, and began making plans to move his family to Canfield, according to the lawsuit.

Bowman was under a two-year contract and was to make $72,000 in the first year and $74,000 in the second.

In the lawsuit, Bowman said council indicated he lost the position because they felt there were “problems with the plaintiff’s r sum , and that he was not forthcoming in terms of information.”